Video game characters: CNET Top 5

CNET Top 5: Video game characters

Welcome to CNET Top 5, where each time we meet, we count down another
hot CNET list. I'm Tom Merritt.
Some of the greatest fictional characters ever are not in books or
movies, but are in video games. Even the paddle in Pong had a little
spunk to it.
So we turned to the Internet and asked, "Hey Internet, what are the Top
5 video game characters of all time?"
And boy, did the Internet tell us.
So...let's count 'em down.
At No. 5, Gordon Freeman, the Black Mesa Research Facility scientist
from Half-Life. As lvlln put it on Twitter, "Obvious choice. A physics
nerd who's also a humanity-saving hero." Well put. Maybe now he'll get
some back up.
Coming in at No. 4, Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 from Halo. He's
not only an ass-kicking cybernetically enhanced supersoldier, but he's
also the inspiration of fantastic Halloween costumes. He's voiced by
Chicago disc jockey Steve Downes, of 97.1 The Drive.
Up to No. 3, Sonic the Hedgehog of, well, Sonic the Hedgehog. He was
launched in 1991 by Sega as rival to Nintendo's Mario. He's blue, can
run faster than the speed of sound, and has a protein in the mammalian
signaling pathway family named after him.
Sliding in at No. 2, Link from the Legend of Zelda. Often confused
with Zelda, Link is the little Peter Pan elf looking character and not
the legendary Princess. He's come a long way since his youth in
Hyrule. Although he never seems to get older.
Before we get to No. 1, Time for another Lame Prize. Three video game
characters were inducted into the Walk of Game at the Metreon in San
Francisco in 2005.
Be one of the first 10 people to correctly name them in the comments
for this Top 5 blog post at blog.cnettv.com and you could get a Wii
remote candy dispenser. Motion sensitivity not included. But it does
have fake smarties!
All right. Let's get to our No. 1. The top video game character of all
time. Leading the way with three times as many mentions on Twitter and
Facebook as any other character
You can guess it
At No. 1, it's...
[[IT'S ME, MARIO]]
Yes Mario. From Donkey Kong through all variations of Mario Brothers
Super and otherwise to Wario and Mario Kart, he is the face of all-ages
video gaming. And while we did receive hate mail in advance for Sonic,
it seems that even the hardest of the hardcore gamers love that scrappy
little Italian who eats mushrooms, kicks turtles, never ever stops.
Well, that's it for this edition of CNET Top 5.
Thanks to everybody on the Internet that sent me your suggestions and
don't forget to take a crack at our trivia question at blog.cnettv.com
for a chance to win the candy-filled Wii-like device
Also, a shout out to Solid Snake, Samus Aran, Duke Nukem, Luigi, The
Paddle form Pong, and all the other great video game characters that
didn't make the list.
May your fans spare us the hate mail.
I'm Tom Merritt. The Princess...is in another castle.